Facilities Planning

FIRE SAFETY REPORT

All buildings which are owned, operated, or leased by a public school district or BOCES must be inspected for fire safety at least annually.  No building which is owned, operated, or leased by a public school district or BOCES may be occupied or otherwise used unless the building has a valid Certificate of Occupancy issued by the Commissioner. Annual fire safety inspections may not commence earlier than 45 days prior to the school’s annual due date.

The results of the annual public school fire safety inspection must be reported to the New York State Education Department (NYSED) via the secure NYSED Application Business Portal – Fire Safety application. The updated process includes an annual requirement that all school districts and BOCES verify the ownership and use for all buildings that are on the NYSED Fire Safety System. This process must take place prior to entering any Fire Safety Report data into the Portal. After all buildings have been verified, the annual inspection data can be entered. Following the successful entry into the Portal, including the superintendent’s electronic certification to the accuracy of the inspection data in the Portal, a certificate of occupancy will be automatically generated and will be available for printing by the school district or BOCES. 

It is strongly recommended that a representative of the school district or BOCES accompany the inspector during their annual inspection.  The results of the annual fire safety inspection should be reviewed by both parties for accuracy and completeness prior to its submission to the Office of Facilities Planning (this includes dates of correction for items found to be in nonconformance.)

  • The electronic submission of a “clean” Fire Safety Report will immediately generate an annual Certificate of Occupancy.
  • The submission of a Fire Safety Report with uncorrected violations will generate either a temporary Certificate of Occupancy or NO Certificate of Occupancy – based on the severity of the fire code violations. Work should commence as soon as possible to correct all fire code violations.
  • School districts should retain paper copies of the Fire Safety Report for review by interested parties.

Public Schools:

Non-Public Schools:

Questions related to the Fire Safety Report, Certificates of Occupancy, or fire code violations may be directed to the Office of Facilities Planning at firesafety@nysed.gov or 518-474-3906.

Last Updated: October 10, 2023